Bailway aates or signals



1 (No, Model.) 4SheetsSheet 1. T. A. B. PUTNAM.

ELEGTRICALLY OPERATING RAILWAY GATES OR SIGNALS. No. 284,670. PatentedSept. 11, 1883.

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' 4 Sheets-Sheet 2. T. A. B. PUTNAM.

ELEGTRIGALLY OPERATING RAILWAY GATES OR SIGNALS.

No. 284,670. Patented Sept. 11, 1883.

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T. A. B. PUTNAM.

ELEGTRIOALLY OPERATING RAILWAY GATES 0R SIGNALS. No. 284,670. 1 PatentedSept. 11, 1883.

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T. A. B. PUTNAM. ELEUTRIGA-LLY OPERATING RAILWAY GATES 0R SIGNALS.

No. 284,670. Patented Sept. 11, 1883.

WITNESSES: INVENTORI I g. g. Q S

By his JIH'OT'lZ-QZ/S, A MM N PETERS. Phakwhlhognphar, Washington. a. c.

NITED STA ES PATENT OFFICE.

THEODORE A. B. PUTNAM, OF NEXV- YORK, N. Y.

ELECTRI CALLY OPERATING RAILWAY GATES OR SIGNALS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 284,670, datedSeptember 11, 1883. Application filed April 16, 1883. N model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THEODORE A. B. PUT- NAM, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of the city, county, and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Means for ElectricallyOperating Railway Gates or Signals, of which the following is aspecification.

In my application for patent on improvements in railway-crossing gatesor signals, filed September 27, 1882, I have illustrated and described agate for road or street crossings 011 railways which closesautomatically in advance of a train and opens automatically after thetrain has passed. My present application is designed'to cover theelectro-magnetic means which I have devised for actuating that gate orother gates of similar character.

In order to facilitate an understanding of my invention, I haveillustrated my said gate in Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings, whichis a front elevation, showing the gate open, the railway-track being inlongitudinal section. Fig. 2 is a' fragmentary front elevation of thesame, showing the gate closed. Fig. 3 is an enlarged front elevation ofone of the electromagnetic detents, and Fig. 4 is a plan of the same.The remaining views are diagrams illustrating my present invention inits various applications and modifications. Figs 5 shows a portion of adouble-track railway, illustrating. the preferred disposition ofelectrical circuits connecting the distant signaling-points with thegate. Fig. (Sis a similar diagram, showing the circuits for asingletrack railway. Fig. 7 shows a modified arrangement for 'adouble-track road. Fig. 8 shows a simplified arrangement for asingletrack road, and Figs. 9 and 10 show two'other modifiedarrangements. Fig. 11 is a similar diagram, showing the application ofmy invention to a different kind of gate.

In all the figures, A designates a railwaytraek, and B a road or streetwhich crosses it, the latter being denoted in Figs. 5 to 11 by a tint.

Referring to Fig. l, O is the vertical framing of the gate, (shown asconsisting of three upright posts, D D D, and a horizontal crossbar overthe top to brace them.) To the midbeyond the outer posts.

bears a track on which rolls a carnage, G,

dle post, near the top of the latter, is pivoted or fulcrumed avibrating lever or walkingbeam, F, which extends to the right and leftforming part of the gate. From this carriage is suspended the gateproper, whlch I have shown as consisting of a series of strips, 6 e, offlexible substance, as canvas, leather, or sheet metal, painted in aconspicuous manner and designed to present an impassable appearance, sothat a driver, finding the gate closed, will not attempt to pass. Thesestrips and the carriage together constitute the gate, which I shallrefer to as a whole by the letter H.

Fig. 1 shows the parts in their normal positions. is tilted, with itsarm supporting the gate uppermost, so that the gate tends to roll downalong, the beam and close itself; but it is restrained from so doing byan electromagnetic detent, I, which engages a pin, f, on the righthandend of the upperbar, a, of the carriage. The lever g of the detent isnormally pressed forward by a spring, h, (shown best in Fig. 4,) andcontinues to engage the pin f until drawn back by the attraction of anelectro-magnet, M, thearmature i of which is fixed to the rear side ofthe lever g. At the left-hand end of the apparatus is another detent, I,identical in construction with the one just described, and operated by amagnet, M. Directly beneath the detent I is a mechanical detent orspring-pawl, J, and beneath the detent I is another like mechanicaldetent or pawl, J. The detents J J form downward continuations of thedetents I I, and the two might be made in one piece, but for thedisadvantage of requiring the magnet to operate so large and heavy apart. The detents I J engage a pin, f, on the left-hand end of the bara. The detentsJ J are beveled in order that the pins ff may wipe pastthem and press them back in passing, or the ends of the pins may bebeveled instead.

The walking-beam F is capable of tilting from the position shown in Fig.1 to that shown in Fig. 2; but is normally maintained in the formerposition by the action of a counter weight, F, on its left-112.1161 end.It is tilted into the position shown in. Fig. 2 by pulling This beamforms or The gate is open and the walking-beam down on a rod or chain,attached to its righthand arm. The bottom end of this rod is connectedto a lever, .75, which extends thence beneath the track, and is acted onby a treadle. K, which consists of two levers, ll, arranged closealongside one of the track-rails, and hinged or jointed together attheir abutting ends. 'When a locomotive passes, its wheel rides over thelevers Z Z and depresses them, bearing down the lever k, pulling downthe rod j, and so tilting the beam F and lifting its weighted end. Assoon as the beam assumes this position it is caught by a spring-pawl, L,

at its right-hand end, and is held'in this position until the pawl iswithdrawn.

Referring now to Fig. 5, the tracks A A and road B are shown in plan,the posts D D in cross-section, the beam F. and treadle K in frontelevation, and the magnets M M and circuit-wires in diagram. Each trackA is provided with two signaling-points, S and S, on opposite sides ofthe crossing. The point S is that from which the impulse is sent whichcauses the gate to close, and should be located a considerable distanceup the track from the crossing-say, for instance, half a mile. The pointS is that from which the impulse is sent to close the gate, and shouldbe only as far beyond the crossing as the length of the trainsordinarily run, so that the gate will be opened as the last car passesby. At each point S S there is formed a break or insulation in thetrack-rails, the same as described in my Patents No. 243,619, dated June28, 1881, and No, 258,600, dated May 30, 1882. The locomotives used willeach be provided with an electriccurrent generator, its terminalsconnecting, respectively, with two conductors traversing the track, onein advance of the other, being preferably the wheels, respectively, ofthe engine and tender, which are insulated from each other, as shown inmy said Patent No. 258,600.

I thus adapt my present invention to form part of the system of electricsignaling embodied in my Patent No. 243,619.

The opposite terminals of the magnet M are connected, respectively, tothe rails on opposite sides of the insulation at each signalingpoint S,and the opposite terminals of the magnet M are connected in like mannerwith the corresponding rails at each point S. These connections areeffected in the following manner; One terminal of the magnet M connectswith a contact-spring, m, which, when the gate is open, contacts with aspring, a, on the back of the beam F. (See Fig. 1.) The magnet Mconnects in like manner with a spring, at, which contacts with a spring,a, on the beam when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 2. Thusone magnet or the other is always in connection with the beam, which isof conducting material, and the other magnet is out of circuit. The beamis connected by a wire,

1, with the rails 2 2. The rails 3 3 at the points S S connect by wires4 4with the other terminal of the magnet M. The rails 5 5 at the pointsS S connect by wires 6 6 with the other terminal of the magnet M. Thewires 4 and 6 are shown as merged together for some distance, but arenone the less distinct-in their functions. Thus in the normal positionolthe parts, as shown in Fig. 5, the magnet M is included in two opencircuits extending to the two points S S, where each is broken by theinsulation between the rails 2 3. If, now, alocomotive, provided asdescribed, running on either track in the direction of the arrow,reaches the position denoted on the lower track at W, a current willpass from one pole of its battery or other generator through its forwardwheels, the rail 2, wire 1, beam F,

springs 01 m, magnet M, wire 4, rail 3, and the rear (or tender) wheelsto the other pole of the battery, thereby exciting the magnet M, whichdraws back the detent I, Fig. 4, and releases the carriage G, whichrolls down to the left in Fig.1, thereby closing the gate. The partsremain in this position until the locomotive reaches the crossing, whenit depresses the treadle K, thereby tiltingthe gate into the positionshown in Fig. 2, thereby connecting magnet M to the beam F through thesprings m a. When the locomotive reaches point S and itsconnecting-wheels bridge the insulation there, a current is sent throughrail 5, wire 6, magnet M, springs m a, beam F, wire 1, and rail2,thereby exciting magnet M, which draws back detent I and releases thecarriage, which thereupon rolls to the right in Fig. 2, thus opening thegate, until its endstrikes the pawl L and disengages it, when the beam Fis tilted by its weight F to its original position, ready for the nextoperation. Thus the gate is caused to operate automatically, opening asuflicient time in advance of the passage of a train, and closingimmediately after the train has passed.

The power required for the mechanical operations is derived fromtheweight of the locomotive in depressing the treadle K, this powerbeing stored up by the weight F. The gate requires no attention and onlyan occasional inspection, its advantage for country road crossings beingconsequently manifest.

Fig. 6 shows a circuit arrangement similar to Fig. 5, adapted to asingle-track road. The four signal-points S S S S are all on the onetrack, and the beam F is connected by a wire, 1, with the rails 2, andby wires 4 4 with the rails 3 3, and the intervening rails, 5 5, areconnected with both magnets M M by wires '6 6.

A locomotive passing in either direction first reaches one of the pointsS and sends a current throughrail 5, wire 6, magnet M, springs in n,beam F, wire 4, and rail 3, thereby closing the gate. On reaching thenext point, S, another current is sent through the magnet M; but thisproduces no effect, the detent I having previously released thecarriage. In depressing the treadle K the beam F is tilted, as before,and connection made with the magnet M, and on reaching the point S,beyond the crossing, the locomotive sends another current through rail5, wire 6, magnet M, spring m a, beam F, wire 1, and rail 2, thereby eX-citing magnet M and opening the gate again.

F This completes the operation; but there is still another insulation atS, the crossing of which would act to close the gate and leave itclosed, unless-some means were provided to prevent this result. For thispurpose the magnet M may be made a polarized magnet, so arrangedrelatively to the polar arrangement of the conductorson the locomotivesthat a current from a locomotive approaching the crossing will cause itto attract its magnetized armature; but a current from a locomotivereceding from the crossing will traverse it in the opposite directionand cause it to repel its armature, thus producing no effect; or, inlieu of this,

some suitable mechanical device may be ar ranged at each point S,adapted to bridge or short-circuit the insulation to a train running inthe receding direction.

The commutator-springs m n on n are desirable in practice, but are notessential to the operativencss of my invention. Fig. 7 is a diagramdesigned to show how these springs may be dispensed with on adouble-track road by employing more Wires somewhat differently arranged.Both terminals of magnet M are branched into two wires, one leading toone, the other to the other point S. The magnet Mis connected in likemanner to the points S S.

Fig. 8 shows a much simplified arrangement adapted to a single track.The points S S are omitted, their function being performed by the pointsS S. From each point S a wire, 3, leads from the rails 4L 4 to eithermagnet M or M. From thence another wire, 7, leads to the other magnet,and from thence the wire 1 leads to the rails 2. The two magnets aretraversed bythe same current and excited simultaneously, although eachtime only one performs any useful work; but the excitation of the otherdoes not derange the operation in any way. l

I have thus far described my invcntion'as to lie operated with thesystem of signaling covered in my said patent of 1881, because I believethat to be the best and most perfect system for the protection of arailway against accidents; but it may be operated in other ways. Twoother methods are shown in Figs. 9 and 10, where a battery, 1?, isintercalated in the ground-wire 1, in lieu of a generator onthelocomotive. In Fig. 9 the track-rails are not insulated at the points SS. At each of these points is a contact-spring, s, which, when touchedby the wheel of a passing locomotive, makes connection with thecontinuous rail 2. From the springs s s at points S S wires 4 4 lead tomagnet M, and from the springs s s at points S S wires 6 6 lead tomagnet M. The circuits are normally broken between sand 2 at the pointsS and S, and are closed by the passage of a train. Abetter plan is shownin Fi 10, where one rail is insulated at S and S, as in the previousfigures, and the opposite terminals of the magnets are connected to therails on opposite sides of the insulations. On the passage of alocomotive its wheels and iron framework bridge over the insulation andclose the circuit. Thus all springs and other mechanical adjuncts aredispensed with.

It will readily be understood thatmy invention is not confined in itsapplication to the particular construction of gate herein shown, butthat it is equally applicable to any gate that normally tends to close,but is restrained from so doing by a detent, and after having closed isgiven a tendency to open-by the passage of a train over a track-treadleor other analogous device, and is restrained from opening by anotherdetent.

Fig. 11 is a diagram showing a swinging gate operated by my invention.The gate swings on a vertical shaft, Q, and in its normal positionstands across the track, being there retained by the detent I, as shownin full lines. \Vhen the locomotive reaches the point S, the gate isreleased and swings to the position shown in dotted lines, across theroad, where it is held by the detent I. The depression of the treadleacts, through any suitable mechanism, to impart to the gate a tendencyto swing back, and when the locomotive reaches S and the detent I iswithdrawn,the gate does swing back.

Instead of a gate or barrier, a mere visible signalas a flag-may beoperated according to my invention, either to be moved into View acrossroads or strcetsor to appear across the track in advance of a train as asignal to the engineer.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination, with a railway-track, of agate or signal at a road-crossing,a treadle, K, adjacent thereto, asignaling-point, S, 011 the track at a'distance in advance of saidcrossing, a detent controlling the closing of the gate, anelecro-magnet, M, operating said detent, an electric circuit extendingthence to thepoint S, a signaling-point, S, on the track beyond saidcrossing, a detent controlling the opening of the gate, anclectromagnet, M, operating said detent, and a circuit extending thenceto the point S, all arranged and adapted to op crate substantially assetforth.

2. The combination, with a railway-track, of a gate or signal at aroad-crossing, an electromagnetic dctent controlling the closing of saidgate, an insulation between two successive railsof the track at asignaling-point, S, in advance of said crossing, electrical connectionbetween the rails on opposite sides of said insulation and the oppositeterminals of the clectro-magnet M of said detent, another electro-magnetic detent controlling the opening of the gate, an insulationbetweentwo successive rails of the track at a signaling-point, S, beyondthe crossing, and electrical connection between the rails on theopposite sides of said insulation and the opposite terminals of themagnet M of said last-mentioned detent, substantially as set forth. I

3. The combination, with a railway, of a gate or signal normally tendingto close itself,

tator, substantially as described, operated by the gate, to break thecircuit of magnetMwhen the gate is closed, and of magnet M when the gateis open, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination of tilting beam F, springs n n thereon, magnets M M,springsm m, connected, respectively, thereto, detents I I, and carriageG, substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of twosubscribing wit- JJGSSGS.

THEODORE A. B. PUTNAM.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR O. FRASER, HENRY CONNETT. r

